ARTICLES ABOUT ED GENSON BY DATE - PAGE 3

Republicans have launched a political ad campaign demanding a special election to fill the Senate vacancy that Gov. Blagojevich allegedly tried to sell, hoping to pick up a seat they had no shot at before the scandal. Democrats, after initially supporting such an election, this week canceled a vote on the matter and backed away in the name of good government. Republicans say Democrats are simply afraid of losing the election, particularly if a potential backlash arises from the criminal charges against Blagojevich.

By Ray Long and Monique Garcia and Tribune reporters | December 17, 2008

SPRINGFIELD — State lawmakers insisted Tuesday they could fairly investigate Gov. Rod Blagojevich following years of criticizing him as a terrible leader as they opened unprecedented impeachment proceedings against him. In the first hints of the drubbing to come, Democratic and Republican committee members struggled to tamp down their revulsion over the national embarrassment created by Blagojevich's arrest a week ago on charges he sought to...

By Ray Long and Rick Pearson and Tribune reporters | December 16, 2008

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House launched its first-ever impeachment probe of a governor Monday, promising weeks of hearings detailing Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged abuse of power, from enacting massive programs without legislative approval to seeking to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama . But the House also held off on calls to strip the disgraced governor of his power to appoint Obama's successor, angering Republicans...

Illinois Republican Party leaders are launching a TV campaign to push their position that a special election should be called to fill the vacancy caused by President-elect Obama's departure, a move to prevent a Senate appointment by scandal-scarred Gov. Blagojevich or Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn if he takes over the top job. With Blagojevich hanging onto office despite last week's arrest in a corruption case, Republicans are seeking to seize the political...

As R. Kelly's freedom hung in the balance Friday, the least experienced attorney at a defense table replete with legal legends stood up to deliver the closing argument. For the next hour, Sam Adam Jr. cajoled, implored, challenged and entertained the Cook County jury deciding the R&B superstar's fate. Sweat ran down his forehead as he delivered a largely improvised monologue filled with pop culture references, biblical quotations and a glimpse at how much the trial's outcome meant to him personally.

In a case that has been a saga of delays and false starts, R. Kelly's trial was postponed yet again on Tuesday, with no trial date in sight more than five years after child pornography charges were filed against the R&B singer. The lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant State's Atty. Shauna Boliker, gave birth last week, prompting the judge presiding over the case to indefinitely postpone the trial less than two weeks before its scheduled start on Sept. 17. A spokesman for Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan cited doctor's orders in announcing the decision, a move that has added a familiar air of uncertainty to the case.

In a case that has been a saga of delays and false starts, R. Kelly's trial was postponed yet again on Tuesday, with no trial date in sight more than five years after child pornography charges were filed against the R&B singer. The lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant State's Atty. Shauna Boliker, gave birth last week, prompting the judge presiding over the case to indefinitely postpone the trial less than two weeks before its scheduled start on Sept. 17. A spokesman for Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan cited doctor's orders in announcing the decision, a move that has added a familiar air of uncertainty to the case.

In her first appearance since a jury was unable to reach a verdict in her murder case this month, Margaret DeFrancisco was back before a Cook County judge for the setting of a date for her retrial. Judge James Schreier set Nov. 5 as the date to pick a jury to hear the case again. A mistrial was declared in her first trial after the jury was deadlocked at 11-1 in favor of convicting DeFrancisco, 20. Prosecutors had sought an August or September retrial date, but defense lawyer Ed Genson said his schedule would not permit it. DeFrancisco's sister, Regina, 21, was convicted by a separate jury this month in the murder of Oscar Velazquez in 2000.

Rep. Mel Reynolds' defense attorney, Ed Genson, engaged in a verbal battle with a prosecution witness for about an hour Monday morning, with the jury being told by the judge to disregard much of what it heard. During the most combative cross examination to date in Reynolds' sexual misconduct trial, his former office manager, Sara Rodriguez, time and again gave longer answers than Genson asked for. Just minutes into the cross examination, Genson asked Rodriguez if she was trying to hurt Reynolds.

By Ray Gibson and Christopher Drew, Tribune Staff Writers. This report was written by Ray Gibson in Chicago and Christopher Drew in Washington | April 18, 1995

A Chicago political consultant said he was questioned by Cook County prosecutors investigating a $2,100 check that they suspect is part of a money-laundering scheme linked to a criminal sexual assault case against U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds. According to Ray Hanania, investigators questioned him about a check written by a Reynolds associate to Urban Strategies, the name of Hanania's Chicago consulting firm. But Hanania said he had never seen the check, and he was told by investigators that it had been cashed at a South Side currency exchange by a woman not employed by Hanania.